Cello and Guitar Sing a Song without Words



Mendelssohn Song Without Words

Mendelssohn Song without Words for Cello and Guitar

In the past, cellist and editor Valter Dešpalj remarked: “It is not uncommon these days to hear a cello and guitar duo, but forty years ago it was quite rare…” Dešpalj has been very interested in exploring how guitar accompaniment can help to emphasize a character of intimacy in music, helping him discover more refined nuances on the cello. Thanks to him, our catalog of cello and guitar is growing, with Mendelssohn's Song without Words, Op. 109 joining as the newest arrangement.

About Mendelssohn's Song without Words for Cello and Guitar

Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words is well known as a series of short lyrical piano pieces. However, a piece in D major for cello and piano, written around 1845 but not published until after his death, also bears the name Song Without Words yet is not related to any of the piano pieces. It’s exquisite character is wholly suited to a pairing of cello and guitar.

About the Editor – Valter Dešpalj

Valter Dešpalj is professor of cello at music academies in Zagreb and Liechtenstein. A graduate from the Juilliard School (where he studied cello under Leonard Rose and chamber music with Felix Galimir and the Juilliard Quartet), he also took master classes with P. Casals, P. Fournier and A. Navarra, and did two years of postgraduate study with G. Kozolupova at the Moscow Conservatory.

Mr. Dešpalj has performed all over the world, including performances at festivals in Gstaad, Lockenhaus, Kuhmo and Dubrovnik, also in some of the most prestigious concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall in London, Sydney Opera House, Amsterdam′s Concertgebouw, Moscow Conservatory Hall etc. Besides teaching in Zagreb and Liechtenstein, he has also been a guest professor at the conservatories in The Hague, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Graz (University of Music), editor of cello music with major music publishers, and member of judging panels at the most prestigious international competitions including Tchaikovsky (Moscow), Bach (Leipzig), Lutoslawski (Warsaw) and ARD (Munich) competitions.

Learn more about Valter Dešpalj and his arrangements at Ovation Press. You can also read an interview with Dešpalj on our blog Ovation Press String Visions.


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